Long Lost Leaves - part II

[Midge]

Aerin looked over at Haldis, who stood with her head almost perpendicular to the floor, softly calling up to her and Quickleaf's companions.

"Yes, Haldis is down here with us. She found me in the dungeons. I can only assume that she is talking to your other companions through the hole in the floor through which you fell. None of the others fell, though. Only you."

She watched Haldis a bit more, and, from the hole far above heard a distressed cry, "How is Quickleaf? Is he hurt much?"

Aerin looked at Quickleaf gently (though she knew it mattered not how she looked at him; he couldn't tell) and asked, "Did you hear that?"

All of a sudden, Haldis came over to tell them what she and the other companions had decided. Aerin was almost ashamed of her lack of healing knowledge in the presence of this woman's own, and Haldis was very dismayed that Aerin had neglected to inform her that Quickleaf's face was bleeding. She set Aerin the task of correctly caring for him now, and went back to inform the others of this new complication.

[Ingwe]

Perhaps this is more perilous than I had told. Ingwionis realized that all had started to turn against all in the tunnels. Every footstep forward either took the group of four away from other comrades, toward them, or toward the exit...and possible toward certain doom. Not realizing what exactly had happened to Quickleaf and the others, not realizing some had left the tunnels, this search and rescue mission had turned into a go in and do nothing then have to rescue ourselves type of mission. We haven't found anything. We're no closer to finding the Entwives. We may already have injured or dead, and it's certain now that someone is injured or worse. We tread into this place needlessly and recklessly. What could have possessed us to go this deep?

[Acalewia]

Aelfwine bit her lip at the news of the new complications.
"How do you plan to get Quickleaf out of that hole along with the other two?" she asked. She couldn't think of anything that would help. Then a thought came to her.
"Radagast! One of us could go down and hold on to Quickleaf as the others manage the rope. Perhaps it would help bring Quickleaf up with out doing farther damage to his injuries,"

[orithil]

"Its a wise idea, it would help stabilize him on the way up" Hedrim said "Aelfwine, you should go, you are one of the lightest but you would be able to bear Quickleafs weight at the same time"

[Willow Oran]

"Hold a moment before you send another down!" Haldis called up, having caught snatches of the debate taking place above, "There is another elf down here, she'll be lighter than Aelfwine, I think, and there's nothing wrong with her arms!" Haldis explained and then turned to the elf in question, "Aerin, could you hold on to Quickleaf and keep him stable if the two of you were to be pulled up at once?"

[Mari]

Ellysa was glad Ingwionis explained what he had meant earlier. Though some of his words got her thinking. Especially the words 'wisdom mingled with confusion'. It reminded her of what Baba once told her: "Wisdom means not knowing a lot, but using that which you understand to help people the best you can inadequate is it may be. And a large part of it is common sense."
She would have to tell Ingwionis that some day, maybe it would make him feel better about having questions and being confused about them.

Suddenly she felt something coming their way. She looked up and saw they were near where she had lost Nami.
"Here I saw Nami for the last time. I took that tunnel to the right." Ellysa paused a second. "Do you feel that?"

[orithil]

"Alright" called Hedrim, and he lowered the rope over the side down towards Haldis.

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf waited with the other elf, hearing Haldis busily going about things, trying to find a way to get them up. Although his hearing was still bad from the cold water, it was improving slightly and he could hear the voices from above. When Quickleaf heard the distant murmur of the voice of Nami, he committed a small prayer silently to himself and thanked Illuvatar that he may meet his companions once again.

But what hope was there. An eternity of darkness. Black. Pitch black. And Quickleaf wished for the skies and trees outside of Dol Guldur, where there was no taste of death to kill his will to live.

[Midge]

Hearing Haldis shout to her, Aerin called back, "Um... Yes. I could do that. He's used to me now anyway."

She looked at Quickleaf, who simply sat there, staring off into oblivion with an extremely sad look on his face. Aerin leaned over, softly slipped her arm around his shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry," she told him. "All will be well. We are going up together; is that okay with you?"

[Coffeehouse]

The moment of darkness, maddening darkness, was gone.

They were getting out of there.

Quickleaf heard the voice of this Aerin, and he looked up towards her direction and smiled, "Thank you for your care. I will not forget" and he wiped blood from his right eye and sat up, ready to get out, seize being a wet and dispairing burden,

"If you will help me on the way up.. it would be easier" trying to smile despite the pain of the world in a fiery battle inside his body. Forget the pain. Focus.

[Midge]

"You're welcome for the care, and I will help you. I am strong. Anyway, apparently I have been chosen, so that more of your companions can stay out of danger. Are you hungry, if just a little? I've got some lembas here."

Aerin reached over to the pack and drew it out. Whether or not Quickleaf wanted some (though she hoped he did, for it would strengthen him greatly on the way up), she was going to take of some anyway, so she would have strength for holding him steady.

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf's skyblue eyes stared out, into the darkness, he did not know what that lay out there in what seemed to be the echoing space of eternity,
and he put his hand out and it hung tired in the air, frail.
"Lembas bread? Long since did I taste this.. I can't remember it.. Cormlle naa tanya tel'raa. Your heart is that of a lion.. Aerin"

[Midge]

"Thank you, but I only carry the food of my people on a journey from my people with a message of my people. I've had this for quite a while." She put a quarter of a wafer in his outstretched hand.

Haldis was busy with a dangling rope, and Aerin turned her attention back to Quickleaf. "It won't be long before we're back with the others."

[Willow Oran]

Borin had lowered down a shield via the second rope, a large, round thing whose purpose Haldis could immediately grasp. Lying the shield face down on the floor of the cave she tied the two ropes together at her eye level and then tied the two ends firmly to the sides of the shield, causing it to hang level at about a foot off the ground.

Haldis checked her knots, then went and retrieved three rolls of bandages from her pack. One she tossed to Aerin, to be used on Quickleaf. The second she pocketed for now and the third she unrolled and, withdrawing her knife, sawed in half. These two halves she used to reinforce the knots holding the shield to the ropes. Once finished she tested handiwork, throwing herself onto the improvised swing and bouncing on it till she was certain that no amount of wriggling would cause the knots to break. She checked them one last time and then called to Aerin, "We're ready, bring him here and settle him in the middle."

[Midge]

Haldis called to Aerin, "We're ready; bring him here and settle him in the middle!"

She looked at Quickleaf. "They've got a shield strongly tied to two ropes. You're to sit in the shield with me, and they'll hoist us up slowly. I'll take care of you. Ready to stand?"

She leaned down and placed Quickleaf's arm around her shoulders, then helped him get his feet under him. Very carefully (and therefore slowly) they walked toward Haldis and the swing. When they finally got there, Haldis helped Aerin hold Quickleaf steady as she sat him down on the swing and scooted him into the middle, curling his legs underneath him carefully.

[Willow Oran]

As soon as Quickleaf was seated on the sheild with Aerin settle behind him for support Haldis unwound the left over roll of bandages and used it to bind them: about their waists, to each other, and then to the rope, the final knot secured above the point where the two ropes met.

[orithil]

Truor grasped the second rope firmly. Hedrim nodded to him and so they began slowly hoisting up Quickleaf and the other elf.

[Midge]

As the company above began hoisting them up slowly, Aerin watched as the view around her began to change. The light became more remote, and Haldis got smaller, though she never took her eyes off of the shield as it rose up to the others.

She turned her attentions to Quickleaf, who surprisingly wasn't taking this extreme change too badly. He was leaning on her for support, and if she moved much, she would shake the shield quite badly and throw it off balance. As it was, she was comfortable, knowing she was needed, and keeping care of this poor elf.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked, putting her hand on his forehead for comfort. His eyes were closed, instead of frantically searching for a sight of something, and she wondered if he slept.

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf, finding it hard to stay awake, the pain in his eyes and head wearing him down, the stained blood down his cheeks, the cold.. but up, up, up they went and he sensed his fellow rider put her hand on his forehead, calming him.

His eyes opened and the cool air swept along them in the total darkness in front of him. But the voices were getting clearer, the communcation from Hedrim growing louder, while Haldis fainting voice echoed from far below. It was soon over. Quickleaf clutches his one hand to the rope and held his other over Aerin's shoulder, awaiting the top.

[Earniel]

"Steady now, that's it," Radagast said as he peered over the edge of the whole, while others were pulling up the rope. "They're almost up."